Tool for removing crown caps from bottles



Oct. 21, 1958 F. H. Wi-iiTELEY 2,856,304

7 TOOL FOR REMOVING CROWN CAPS FROM BOTTLES Filed Sept. 24, 1956 BY 42 A T'TORNE United States Patent Ofiice 2,856,804 Patented Oct. 21, 1958 TOOL FOR REMOVING CROWN CAPS FROM BOTTLES Fred Howard Whiteley, Kansas City, Kans. Application September 24, 1956, Serial No. 611,421 4 Claims. (Cl. 81-3.46)

2,516,439, dated July 25, 1950, by the inclusion of important structural components operable not merely to pry the cap from the bottle, but to first unlock the same whereby the ultimate prying action is simplified and the overall removing operation made easy without danger of bottle breakage.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a bottle cap remover having a bottle-engaging parts formed and. disposed to utilize a lobe forming a part of the bottle neck as a fulcrum during the removal steps of first unlocking the cap and thereupon prying the same loose.

Still another object of the instant invention is to provide a hand tool of the aforementioned character employing cooperating bottle-engaging edges critically formed and disposed to effect a shifting fulcrum as the device is swung downwardly and inwardly toward the bottle whereby the skirt of the cap is first moved outwardly out of the depression in which it is disposed to unlock the same and is. thereupon tilted upwardly in the final step of .prying the cap loose from the bottle.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a cap remover employing a crosshead having a skirt-engaging tongue disposed between a pair of notches, the

latter of which serve to clear the locking ring of the bottle neck to eliminate the hazard of chipping such ring in the maner of many types of conventional openers.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a bottle opener made pursuant to the present invention showing its position of the same relative to the bottle during the initial step of removing the cap. 6

Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the manner of use of the opener.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing the device in operative position during the last step of removing the cap of a bottle.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, edge elevational view of the remover illustrating the steps of operation; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken on line 5- 5 of Fig. 4.

, The device shown in the drawing is in the nature of an elongated fiat plate 10, havinga substantially elliptical opening 12 formed therein presenting a pair of spacedapart legs 14 and 16 interconnected at one end thereof by a crosshead 18. Hook means 20 and lip 22 at one end of the plate 10, and hooks 24 on the crosshead 18. are provided for sundry container opening operations forming no part of the instant invention and the same need not be further described. Similarly, a portion of the innermost edges of the legs 14 and 16 are provided with specially formed teeth 26 for opening containers provided with screw caps and the like, but here again, such feature, while advantageously included in a multipurpose tool, does not relate itself to the bottle opening operations hereinafter to be set forth.

Legs 14 and 16 are additionally provided with opposed concave edges 28 and 30 respectively which converge as the crosshead 18 is approached and merge with corresponding notches 32 and 34 in the crosshead 18 between which is presented an inwardly projecting tongue 36, a portion 38 of which is preferably roughened to improve the operation of the device.

The hand tool is designed for the purpose of removing caps 40 of bottles 42. Caps 40 are of conventional character in that the same are provided with a skirt 44 that embraces a locking ring 46 formed on the neck 48 of bottle 42. Neck 48 is additionally provided with an elongated lobe 50 presenting an annular depression 52 within the neck 48 between ring 46 and lobe 50.

The way in which the device is initially placed in use is best illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5 of the drawing wherein it is seen that neck 48 is embraced by' the edges 28 and 30 beneath the lowermost edge of the skirt 44, and within the depression 52. Furthermore, prior to the removal operation, tongue 36 is likewise inserted into the depression 52 in engagement with the neck 48, and to this end, tongue 36 is provided with an arcuate, innermost edge 54 that conforms with the arcuate configuration of the depression 52.

While the neck 43 is engaged by the tongue 36 throughout substantially the entire length of the arcuate edge 54 thereof, the edges 28 and 30 need not necessarily engage the neck 48 within the depression 52. ,In fact, the configuration of the arcuate edges 28. and 30 do not conform to. depression 52, but more nearly correspond arcuately with the lobe 50 adjacent the depression 52,

their primary purpose being to produce an initial for ward motion to plate 10 when the latter is swung downwardly, as in Fig. 4., In any event, it is seen that the distance between innermost ends 56 of the edges 28 and 30 is somewhat less than the diameter of the neck 48 at the depression 52. Furthermore, it is important that the distance between the edges 28 and 30 be less throughout than the maximum diameter of lobe 50, and to this end, the distance between the ends 58 of edges 28 and 30 should be at least slightly less than the diameter of lobe 50.

By virtue of the important factors above described, the initial removing action is that of unlocking the skirt 44 with respect to the ring ,46. When the plate 10is moved downwardly and inwardly toward the bottle 42 to tip the crosshead I8 upwardly, as seen by the arrow in Fig.4, lobe Ellserves as a fulcrum for the edges 28 and 30, causing the tongue 36 to initially move radially outwardly from within the depression 52 and, by virtue of the fact thattongue 36 engages the lowermost edge of skirt 44, the latter will be bent outwardly before tipping action on the part of the cap 40 takes place.

In this respect, as the edges 28 and 30 move downwardly into engagement with the lobe 50, the tongue 36 moves from within the depression 52 and gradually swings upwardly along the arcuate surface of the ring It is impossible however, for the tongue 36 to lock or wedge in place beneath thering 46 to adversely chip the latter or break the same in any manner for, as aforementioned, downward swinging movement of the device in the manner illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 4, progressively forces the tongue 36 to move outwardly rather than into the depression 52 beneath ring 46 where it would otherwise tend to exert a prying action on the ring 46 andthereby damage the latter.

During downward swinging movement of the device and immediately following the unlocking of skirt 44 with respect to ring 46, the cap 40 is gradually pried loose as seen by dotted lines in Fig. 4. During the prying action and as the tongue 36 moves to a position adjacent the uppermost edge of the ring 46, the outward movement of tongue 36 ceases. In fact, the tongue 36 is guided along an arcuate path of travel that is substantially coincident with the arcuate configuration of the ring 46 and, by the time the cap 40 is pried loose, the edge 54 of tongue 36 is adjacent to, and in engagement with the uppermost extremities of the ring 46. Thereafter, as plate 10 closely approaches the bottle 42, the tongue 36 moves upwardly and outwardly away from the ring 46 where no damage to the latter can possibly occur.

The unique operation just above described is the result of a shifting fulcrum. When plate 10 is initially swung downwardly, edges 28 and 30 engage the lobe 50 next adjacent the ends 56 thereof at about point 60. By the time cap 40 is unlocked, edges 28 and 30 engage the lobe 50 intermediate their ends. Finally, from the time skirt 44 is unlocked and until the operator moves the plate 10 still further toward the bottle 42 to completely dislodge cap 40, the engagement between edges 28 and 30 and the lobe 50 is adjacent the ends 58 at about point 62. It is to be remembered also that plate 10 shifts longitudinally prior to unlocking skirt 44 from depression 52 but not thereafter and that edges 28-30 are moving from a horizontal position to an inclined position. Thus lobe 50 is not engaged by edges 28-30 at the same point during the complete action of removing cap 40. Although the plate 10 initially moves from right to left longitudinally thereof, and though points of engagement along edges 23--30 move from ends 56 to end 58, the points of engagement with lobe 50 move from left to right. As seen in Fig. 1, points 60 are to the left of the center line of bottle 42, but by the time skirt 44 is unlocked, the lobe is engaged substantially on such center line as seen in Fig. 3 and well below depression 52.

In addition to the foregoing, it is highly significant that not only is ring 46 protected against damage by virtue of the way the device is forced to operate, but lobe 50 is at all times protected. The arcuate configuration of the edges 28 and 30, as well as the convergence thereof toward the notches 32 and 34, provides for the shifting fulcrums aforementioned and instead of a binding within the depression 32, which would tend to chip the bottle, edge 54 of tongue 36 is forced to ride smoothly along the ring 46 and edges 28 and 30 are forced to shift along the lobe 50.

The notches 32 and 34 are likewise important since they serve to clear the ring 46 and the skirt 44 whenever an operator fails to properly engage tongue 36 below skirt 44 before commencing the downward swinging movement of the plate 10; otherwise, and except for the provision of such notches 32 and 34, the lobe 50 or ring 46' might be chipped as is commonplace with conventional openers. The roughened area 38 tends to force the tongue 36 to properly grip the lower edge of skirt 44 and thereby spread the same outwardly during the initial removing steps so that at no time is there presented a mere prying action. Such prying loose of the cap 40 occurs only after the skirt 44 thereof has been unlocked from engagement with the ring 46 and after which the prying step is relatively simple because the cap 40 is then easily tipped or tilted away from the ring 46.

It is now seen that while the important feature of avoiding bottle breakage has been incorporated in the tool of the instant invention, there has also been presented a novel principle, namely, that of first unlocking a cap of the nature illustrated in the drawing prior to attempting the prying loose of the same in the final stages of the operation.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A lever device for removing crown caps from hottles wherein the cap is provided with a skirt locked over a locking ring on the bottle neck and into an annular depression in said neck between said ring and an enlarged annular lobe on the neck, said device comprising a plate having a pair of opposed, spaced legs provided with innermost opposed edges at one end thereof adapted to engage opposite sides of said lobe within said depression; and a crosshead joining the legs at said one end thereof and engageable in said depression with the cap skirt when said edges of the legs engage within the depression, said edges converging as the crosshead is approached, the distance between said edges adjacent the crosshead being slightly greater than the diameter of said depression and the greatest distance between the edges at corresponding points remote from the crosshead being slightly less than the external diameter of the lobe whereby the latter serves as a shifting fulcrum for said edges when the plate is swung to move the opposite end of the legs downwardly and inwardly toward the bottle.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said plate is provided with a pair of opposed, inwardly facing notches, each of said notches being disposed between the crosshead and a corresponding edge for clearing the ring as the unlocked cap is pried from the ring by the device.

3. A lever device for removing crown caps from hottles wherein the cap is provided with a skirt locked over a locking ring on the bottle neck and into an annular depression in said neck between said ring and an enlarged I annular lobe on the neck, said device comprising a plate having a pair of opposed, spaced legs provided with concave innermost opposed edges at one end thereof adapted to engage opposite sides of said lobe within said depression; and a crosshead joining the legs at said one end thereof and provided with an inwardly-extending tongue engageable in said depression with the cap skirt when said edges of the legs engage within the depression, said edges converging as the crosshead is approached, the distance between said edges adjacent the crosshead being slightly greater than the diameter of said depression and the greatest distance betwen the edges at corresponding points remote from the crosshead being slightly less than the external diameter of the lobe whereby the latter serves as a shifting fulcrum for said edges when the plate is swung to move the opposite end of the legs downwardly and inwardly toward the bottle.

4. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said crosshead is provided with a pair of ring-clearing notches, the tongue being between and extending inwardly from the notches.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 501,050 Bernardin July 11, 1893 985,255 Forsyth Feb. 28, 1911 2,031,420 Lebherz Feb. 18, 1936 2,516,439 Whitely July 25, 1950 2,651,226 Hoppmann Sept. 8, 1953 

